Insanity
by AV21
Summary: Teal'c's observations on the DanielVala relationship.


Notes: Organizing in my folders and stumbled across this little piece, thought I'd share it._  
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* * *

_During Avalon_

What had started as a slight disquiet for DanielJackson's well-being upon missing the Daedalus had swelled to a genuine concern for his sanity. According to the SGC personnel DanielJackson had formed a new, and slightly erratic behavior pattern.

This wouldn't have troubled Teal'c, for after years of friendship he knew that DanielJackson grew to be slightly irritable when he worked too much, (Or spent too much time with GeneralO'Neill) but according to his sources, this was different.

Some thought DanielJackson had taken complete leave of his usually quite remarkable senses when he had requested that General Landry allow ValaMalDoran through the stargate. (He noted that the marines whom she displaced from the Daedalus several months earlier all chose rather interesting adjectives to describe her personality.) Rather than accept their opinions Teal'c had attempted to verify on his own that DanielJackson was indeed the consciousness still in possession of his body, and though that appeared to be the case…he was still concerned.

He had thrown a pillow. DanielJackson had thrown a pillow. One of the most even tempered and patient individuals he would ever know had thrown a pillow. He had yelled at woman, challenged her intelligence, and then thrown a pillow across the infirmary. Possibly even more disturbing, DanielJackson had double-checked that it would not be in his best interest to kill her, and Teal'c wasn't sure if he was joking. It was as if the reasonable pillar of morality that Teal'c had come to know so well had dissolved, leaving behind this child.

He would accompany DanielJackson to England, there was no question about that. Every time they were in a room together DanielJackson and ValaMalDoran sparred with one another. It was more fury than he had ever seen come from DanielJackson, and he feared that left to his own devices DanielJackson might do something he would regret.

* * *

_Post The Powers That Be_

Tau'ri were interesting beings, after ten years Teal'c was still surprised by some of their more interesting traits, particularly those of DanielJackson. Jaffa do not blush, centuries of degrading enslavement had phased out that tendency. Humans blushed, but none quite as much as DanielJackson, though Teal'c had to admit, it had been years since he'd seen DanielJackson blush quite so much. When he noticed that a new idea began to form.

He had sat in on the briefing of DanielJackson and ValaMalDoran, and it was the first time he'd seen DanielJackson flush in many months. Usually GeneralO'Neill needed to choose just the right words and catch DanielJackson on just the right day, but this blush was triggered by no such alignment of events.

"And then Daniel and I roamed around the house a bit, trying to figure out just where we were. And Daniel read this plaque on the wall that said we were married, and then we went outside…"

"Hold up. Married? You and Jackson were married." ColonelMitchell did his trademark over-enunciation of the last word, and did not even attempt to withhold his grin at that moment, clearly relishing in the discomfort the conversation was causing DanielJackson.

"Not us Vala. Herod and Salis were married, and we were just in their bodies."

"So, while we were in their bodies we were as good as married. Though Daniel darling, I've got to tell you. You didn't quite fulfill your husbandly duties. We ought to try again." General Landry cleared his throat to spare DanielJackson and thwart whatever commentary had inspired that evil grin spreading across ValaMalDoran's face. The debriefing went back on course, but the damage had been done.

DanielJackson had blushed when ValaMalDoran emphasized they were married. And that tinge of red had deepened when she started pestering him about sex. Teal'c now began to notice the many times DanielJackson blushed while in ValaMalDoran's presence, and drew evidence for a new theory.

As he was watching DanielJackson's blushes, he also noticed that for all her attempts to irritate him, she tried even harder to make him think well of her. On their hunt to undo the physiological connection between them she would launch into long justifications for her past behavior. In younger years DanielJackson would've understood every action, maybe not approving, but certainly not passing judgment. He used to understand that the universe was a difficult place and one did what they had to to survive. But he seemed determined to hold ValaMalDoran to a higher standard, one which she desperately tried to meet.

On P8X412 all Teal'c doubts concerning both sides had been erased. She did the right thing, even though it defied all her instincts regarding self-preservation. She soared above the standard DanielJackson had set for her, being willing to trade her life for those of the people whom she had once callously driven. She healed them, she fought for them, and because of it DanielJackson found the strength to fight for her.

When DanielJackson stood in that court Teal'c knew he would call her friend from that moment on. This vixen, this liar, this thief, had brought DanielJackson back to life. Time flowed around Teal'c as he remembered the impassioned speeches DanielJackson would deliver at every opportunity, and the light that shimmered in his blue eyes when he did so. He had sent word to ColonelCarter when they had returned, making an addendum to his official report. He told her he stood proud again, radiating the brilliance that made him a mover of men. That light that had dimmed from so much pain over the years was back with a vengeance, a roaring fire that again consumed his soul.

Now that it had returned to its former glory Teal'c knew when it began. When the kindling had been sparked. There was still rage in DanielJackson's voice when he told of ValaMalDoran's death, fury burning at men who could descend to a place that condoned making a pyre of the innocent. For her his spark was reignited.

* * *

_Post Beachhead_

In the aftermath of her disappearance DanielJackson still wouldn't speak of her, a sign to them all that the scar ran deeper than they suspected. ColonelCarter stayed at the SGC when she saw the pain in his eyes, declining the offer to return to Area 51 so she could better watch over DanielJackson.

In his own recovery style ColonelMitchell dragged DanielJackson out of the infirmary for basketball the day after, not thinking of the memories that it would summon up. Even Teal'c felt pain at the absence of his spirited teammate, and how giddy she would when they narrated their latest victory GeneralO'Neill and ColonelCarter and listened in as both teased DanielJackson and ColonelMitchell for being defeated by a girl.

They played the game and Teal'c started to fear for DanielJackson again. He played just as hard as usual, his competitive nature and pent up body demanding some relief from what it had been put through the past few days, but his heart was someplace else. There were few times that Teal'c had seen DanielJackson's soul slip away from his frame to deal with trauma, and each time he feared that DanielJackson might not find the strength to call it back.

He sat with DanielJackson in the commissary a few days after her disappearance, not speaking, as had become their custom for times of trial. Then something flashed over DanielJackson's stoic face, and he smiled. For days he had been reaching out with his mind, searching the cosmos for some inclination that she was alive, and in that instant Teal'c knew DanielJackson had found something to believe. To believe in luck, in fate, in those watching over him, and most of all in her.

DanielJackson picked up an apple from his tray and narrated to Teal'c a story of his time involving the Priors, specifically something regarding Vala, an apple, and the irony in relation to a woman named Eve. (Teal'c couldn't help but notice the enjoyment DanielJackson seemed to derive from feasting upon that apple.)

Days later ColonelMitchell asked Teal'c what had changed DanielJackson's mind and brought him out of his "funk."

"Because she is alive ColonelMitchell. DanielJackson only needed time to learn this for himself."

ColonelMitchell stopped in confusion then followed after Teal'c muttering, "Okay, she's alive. How does he know that? Some residual voodoo from the stones?"

Teal'c grinned at ColonelMitchell as he replied, "I believe the phrase DanielJackson used was 'flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bones." He nodded to ColonelMitchell as he walked away and smiled at the clarity that crossed the Colonel's face.

* * *

_During The Quest_

She was sitting in the gate room staring at the stargate, waiting. She had patiently sat on crates in the corner for over an hour, swinging her feet aimlessly in the air and ignoring the young marines who were making eyes at her. DanielJackson was due back from off world at any moment and she could barely contain her excitement. She'd almost jumped out of her skin at any mention of his name over the past few days and now seemed ready to burst in anticipation.

He had come for her. DanielJackson had come aboard the Ori ship to find her and had brought her back home rather than take Adria and try to save the world. Teal'c knew what that meant to her, and that every kind word DanielJackson shared only drew her further in.

Everyone in the SGC of her outburst at the base psychiatrist in the hallway, except the man she was speaking of. Her affection had spread simply beyond sexual innuendo, in fact, that had almost ceased when she realized her feelings for Daniel ran truer than attraction. She would be his research assistant, taking notes and faking interest in subjects that deep down made her want to chew her won eyeballs. (ColonelCarter had told him that her favorite thing to say about DanielJackson was that "there is something pleasant about his mouth when he speaks," to which ColonelMitchell made several "chick-flick" insults and the conversation disintegrated from there.)

ValaMalDoran had stopped trying to be subtle and even dressed to match. DanielJackson would emerge from his room in the morning clinging to a cup of coffee for dear life and ValaMalDoran would return to her room and choose the uniform that matched his. The whole of the SGC knew what DanielJackson seemed to be missing, and they weren't sure how he could be so blind. She had gotten herself shot for him, discovered his password to find out more about what he was working on to have things to talk about, and anyone who ventured into her quarters knew that the books lining her shelves were ones pilfered from DanielJackson's office and meant to give him a reason to drop by. But to all outside observers he was missing the signals.

DanielJackson was much more subtle than ValaMalDoran, choosing small steps that mean the world than a large one delivered daily. Teal'c knew that DanielJackson had asked GeneralLandry to accept ValaMalDoran to the SGC, and for no other man, for no other reason would he have acquiesced. DanielJackson confessed that he had told her about Sha're, and only Teal'c and ColonelCarter had caught the tinge of jealousy that crept into his voice when he told them ValaMalDoran had snuggled with her husband in his presence.

ValaMalDoran was in love, and DanielJackson had fought hard, but had followed. A shiver passed through the air when they felt one another near, and it was contagious. Some of the young marines gossiped that if you wanted to break down a girl's defenses put her in the same room as DanielJackson and ValaMalDoran. There was enough electricity floating through the space between them to charge anyone's hormones.

Teal'c did not approve of this gossip, for DanielJackson was not a creature of hormones or lust. He was purity of heart and love personified. He wouldn't move until he was sure that she loved him as deep and as true as he loved her. DanielJackson had only truly loved once, but Teal'c was sure he would do so again.

"But Daniel…" plead ValaMalDoran's dulcet tones as she and DanielJackson made their way into the gate room, a tittering ColonelMitchell following behind.

"Absolutely not!"

"But Daniel darling, it means so much more to me than it does to you."

ColonelMitchell came to the side of ColonelCarter and Teal'c as she asked, "What happened."

"Well, Vala has decided that she wants to adopt Jackson's coffee mug, sort of give it a more loving home where every now and again it'll hold tea, and chocolate milk."

"No Vala! It's one of the few things at the SGC that hasn't been blown up, transformed, teleported, or tried to kill me!"

ColonelMitchell smirked as he interjected "You might've made more headway if you hadn't ambushed him in the locker room and then been upset when he was dressed."

Vala turned on ColonelMitchell and began emphatically shaking her finger. "Your Earth television said that I was supposed to 'catch him with his pants down' if I wanted to win!"

"I believe that is another of their Tau'ri phrases that seem to displease you so."

ValaMalDoran growled in the back of her throat and ranted, "Great. The stupidity of your language never ceases to astound me Daniel. And I didn't even get to see you naked. Though you're not a entirely bad specimen Mitchell." ColonelMitchell stuttered out a defense as ColonelCarter proceeded to tease him about the almost constant loss of his pants. And so the banter continued until they began to dial the gate.

"Daniel…"

DanielJackson fiddled with his clip as he muttered, "Just find me a replacement before mine goes missing," and strode towards the event horizon. As SG-1 proceeded towards the wormhole ValaMalDoran stayed next to Teal'c for a moment, reveling in the surprise. She smiled her largest smile to him before bounding through the gate with the others, and Teal'c couldn't help but grin in return.


End file.
